Slant roof louver



Nov. 28, 1944. H LEsLlE 2,363,879

SLANT ROOF LOUVER Filed Feb. 25, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l @A4-iij- Nov. 28,1944. F. H. LESLIE SLANT ROOF LOUVER Filed Feb. 2s, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet2 fw /mj @y f@ e FW Patented Nov. 2s, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT oEFl'cESLANT ROOF LOUVER Freeland H. Leslie, Chicago, Ill.

Application February 23, 1942, Serial No. 431,914

' (ci. sis-42) Claims.

This invention relates to louvers for ventilating attics in houses, andmore particularly to louvers of the type shown in applicants copendingapplication, Serial No. 326,369, now Patent #2,300,842, dated November3, 1942, of which this application is a continuation in part. 'Iheselouvers have become known in the trade as slant roof louvers.

The first object of the present invention is to provide in a slant rooflouver of limited dimensions and of a design adequate to resist waterpenetration from the outside a pitch for the louver roof such that itwill slope downwardly when the louver is mounted on a roof having apitch as low as one-sixth. It will be understood that the roofs of mostprivate homes are pitched at one of a comparatively few commonly usedslopes. The slope of a particular roof is spoken of in the constructiontrade as one-half pitch, one-third pitch, one-fourth pitch, etc. By theterm one-half pitch roof, the trade means one wherein the height of thepeak of the roof above the eaves is one-half of the horizontal distanceat the eaves spanned by the roof. Similarly, a one-third pitch roof isone wherein the height of the roof peak above the eaves is one-third thedistance spanned by the roof. In applicants concurrently ledapplication, Serial No. 438,064 there is shown a slant roof louver to beused on a quarter-pitch roof.

Parenthetically, it may' be said that almost regardless of the pitch ofa house roof, an outwardly and downwardly directed slope on a louverroof may be provided by merely lengthening the roof of the louver,thereby decreasing the angle between the louver roof and the house roofupon which it is to be mounted. As this lengthening of the louver roofincreases the cost of the louver and renders it more conspicuous on ahouse roof, this solution is of no practical consequence.

In the present invention applicant provides a slant roof louver oflimited dimensions whose roof will slant outwardly and downwardly whenmounted on a one-sixth pitch roof. The feature which makes this possibleis the positioning of the water baille or return drain which is withinthe louver behind the outlet opening below the peripheral ange whichrests upon the slant roof. Referring to applicants copending case,Serial No. 326,369, the forward top of the baffle I6 must be slightlyabove the top of the screen over the outlet opening in order to excludedriving rain effectively. Inasmuch as the opening above the baille mustbe equal to the outlet opening, the height of the peak of the louverabove the peripheral flange must be approximately twice the height ofthe screen above the same point. In the slant roof louver there shown,the angle between the louver roof and the peripheral ilashing isapproximately thirty-one degrees. When this louver is mounted on aone-quarter pitch roof, which forms an -angle 'to the horizontal ofapproximately twenty-six degrees. the louver roof will slope inwardlytoward the roof and in a driving rain, water from the louver roof may beblown beneath the shingles above.

In the present invention, applicant drops the baiile or drain below theperipheral flange and so relates the angle of the floor of the baffle ordrain to the peripheral flange that when the louver is placed on aone-sixth pitch roof, the floor of the baille will still slopedownwardly toward the external opening.

In the present invention, the outlet opening which is ordinarily coveredby a screen is disposed at right angles to the roof of the louver andnot at right angles to the peripheral flange. When actually mounted on aroof, the screen is more likely to be at approximately :right angles tothe horizontal, which is desirable.

The forward edge of the baille is lower with respect to the peripheralilange "and this makes it possible to lower the roof peak of the louver.

It will be understood that the invention here described will be usefulonly where there is vacant space beneath the house roof sheeting toreceive the depending baille or drain. Such space ordinarily existsbetween the rafters of a private home roof because these rafters areusually two inches by six inches and the outer opening of one ofapplicants louvers is ordinarily only two inches high. The second objectof this invention is to provide draining surfaces within the louver suchthat water resulting from condensation on the interior metal surfaceswill be discharged on to the house roof. Applicants louvers are made ofmetal and experience has demonstrated that the highly conductive metalwill precipitate moisture out of the air moving in the air passagewayduring a change in external temperatures. The precipitated moisture maygather as ice or run oli as liquid, depending principally upon thetemperature of the louver. The moisture is precipitated on the metalsurfaces along which there may be a flow of air, although to a muchsmaller degree along other metal surfaces.

, In the copending application, Serial No. 326,369, thetop wall of thebaie is parallel to the louver` roof. A workman knows that, bypositionlng the louver so that the louver roof slopes downwardly, thisupper baille wall will likewise slope downwardly so that precipitatedmoisture will drain through the louver outlet opening onto the houseroof. Moisture precipitated on those inside wall portions of the louverwhich are behind the baille and 'above the inlet opening will drip intothe attic. One of the features of the present invention is the provisionof a drain and baille members positioned beneath all interior walls ofthe louver which form the air passageway whereby all moistureprecipitated in the air passageways will be discharged onto the houseroof. An adaptor plate for effecting this same purpose in the slant rooflouver wherein the baille or drain is entirely above the peripheralflange is shown in the concurrently filed case; Serial No. 438,064.

A third object of this invention is to further reduce the overall heightof the louver by providing a plurality of passageways through the insidebaille whereby'the cross sectional area of the passageway above the edgeof the baille adjacent to the outlet opening need not be equal to thecross sectional area of the outlet opening.

These and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained intwo embodiments of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings,comprising one sheet, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view partly cutaway of the first embodiment of the invention mounted on a roof betweenthe rafters;

Figure 2 iS a side view in section showing relative sizes of airpassageways;

Figure 3 is an exploded perspective View of a slant roof louver dormerand those parts making up the combination drain 'and baille member whichdepends below the peripheral flange;

Figure 4 is a side view in section of the second embodiment of theinvention; and

Figure 5 is a perspective View of the depending drain and baille memberused in the second embodiment of the invention.

Like reference characters are used in the drawings and specificationthat follows.

Continuing to refer to the drawings and particularly to Figures 1, 2 and3 showing the first embodiment of the invention, in Figure 3 the numeralI0 identifies a dormer. The dormer I8 is formed of two triangular sidewalls as I2, a roof I4, a screen I6 over a front opening and a visor I8sloping forwardly from the roof I4 to a point below the upper edge ofthe screen I6. Flanges along the opposite sides of the roof I4 and thevisor I8 are the means of assembling the roof'I4 to the side walls I2.The bottom edge of each side wall I2 carries an outwardly directedflange as and the upper edge of the roof I4 has an extended flange 22.These anges are assembled with a flat sheet 24 to form three sides of aperipheral flange generally identified by the Ynumeral 26 surrounding anopening which is covered by the dormer I0. The construction of thedormer follows closely the construction disclosed in the copending case,Serial No. 326,369.

The lower portion of the peripheral flange 26 is formed of a at sheet 28into which has been pressed' a ramp 30. This sheet 28 is fastenedbeneath the flanges 20 by any suitable means in such a way that the line32 where the ramp leaves the plane of the sheet 28 will be in alignmentwith the front vertical edges of the side walls I2. Ordinarily thescreen I6 is not mounted over the outlet opening of the dormer until allother parts of the louver have been assembled.

Beneath the dormer I0 and beneath the peripheral flange 26 there ismounted a combination baille and. drainboard member, generallyidentified by the numeral 34. Referring to Figure 3, this memberconsists of a drainboard havlng two oppositely and upwardly directedside walls 38 and 40 which have the same general triangular shape as thedormer side walls I2. The side walls 38 and 40 are cut at 42 and 44 inorder to terminate short of the front screen I6, see Figure 2. The outeror discharge end of the drain board -36 continues in the same planebeyond the vertical cut portions 42 and 44 and at the end carries a dripcap 46.

Before assembling the drainboard 36 with the dormer I0 and ramp 30, anangulate or pocket member 48, which consists of top wall 50, side wall52 and bottom flange 54 together with suitable side flanges such as 56,is mounted on the inside end of the dralnboard 36 to form a. pocketwhich will stop any driving rain sweeping through the screen I6.Additionally, there is mounted between the side walls 38 and 48 a baille58 having side edge flanges 68 for assembling purposes. The baille 58 ismounted, referring to Figure 2, so that its inward edge 62 will be lowerthan the forward edge 64 of the pocket member 48, and so that itsoutward edge 66 will be slightly above the top of the screen.

The combination baille and drainboard assembly 34 is mounted in the ramp30 which slightly exceeds the width of the drainboard 36 and the upperedges of the walls 38 and 40 are fastened by any suitable means such asspot welds 68 to the lower inside portion of the dormer side walls I2.The ramp 30 is at the same angle with the sheet 28, see Figure 2, as lsthe roof .I4 with the peripheral flange 26. The drainboard 36,therefore, is parallel to the roof I4. Moreover, continuing to refer toFigure 2, the angulate or pocket member 48 has itsr top wall 5I)parallel to the drainboard 36 so that its top wall 58 likesheeting.In-Figure 1, two rafters 12 and 14,

ordinarily disposed on sixteen-inch centers, are illustrated as coveredby sheeting 16, tar paper 18 and shingles 80. A hole 82 may be cut inthe sheeting and if it is of the exact size of the dormer area, thelower edge of the sheeting at 84 should be cut back to provide an airintake for the louver equal to the air outlet. More commonly, the holein the sheeting is cut back to a point such as 86, see Figure 2, becausethe upper portion 24 of the peripheral flange 26 is amply wide andstrong to provide firm support for the louver over the larger hole.

Applicants louver depends below the sheeting by a distance a little lessthan the height of the louver above the roof. 'I'he rafters 12 and 'I4provide ample room because even when they are only of the two-inch byfour-inch size,

' the screened opening of the louver is only two drainboard $6 is to theleft o! the point where the roof I4 meets the peripheral ilange.- It thesheeting is cut along the line 84, it is evident that all metal walls inthe air passageway are mounted in such a way that precipitated moisturewill reach the drainboard 36 if the louver is mounted so that its roofI4 4slopes outwardly and downwardly.. Y

An important feature contributing to the low overall height ofapplicants louver is the positioning of the haine 58 so that there willbe passageways at both ends thereof. Referring to Figure 2, it will beunderstood that the inside opening 8B should have the same crosssectional area as the outside opening covered by the screen I6.Heretofore, applicant has carried the passageway forwardly over thefront edge of the baffle, which necessitates raising the peak to a pointabove the baille equal to the height of the outside opening. In thepresent invention, the inside opening 88 is connected to the outsideopening by two passageways 9|!4 and 92, the combined cross sectionalarea of which equals that of either the inside opening or the outsideopening. It is evident that a series of spaced bafes could be positionedbetween the pocket member 48 and the outside opening and that the peakmight be still further lowered.

Referring now to Figures 4 and 5, the second embodiment of thisinvention shows its application to that type of roof louver shown in thecopending application. In Figure 4 there appears in dotted outline thestructure shown in Figure 2 oi' the copending application, Serial No.326,369, and in solid lines the present invention. The lower portion 94of the peripheral ange has been provided with a ramp 96 similar to ramp3D in Figure 3. The screen `98 is disposed at right angles to the ramp96 and a single visor is employed. A drip cap and deep pocket bailiemember are formed oi' a single sheet of metal and differ from thestructure shown in the copending case principally in the fact that theopposite side wall flanges illu and H12, see Figure 5, are generallytriangular and of a height suiiicient to make it possible to spot weldthem to the lower inside walls of the dormer while holding thedrainboard iioor 04 parallel to the top of the dormer, see Figure 4.

Comparsion of the solid line outline of Figure 4 with the dotted lineoutline gives a better understanding of how the peak of the louver isdropped lower toward the peripheral ange than could be obtained by adescription. In applicants earlier invention, .the peak and generalcontour of the visor are determined by an Varc |06 having as its radiusthe height of the screen opening and as its center the forward edge H ofthe baille member i. In the present invention the peak H2 and the visorare dened by an arc H4 drawn on the same radius but with the edge IIB asa center.

By this arrangement the peak of the roof is dropped almost two inchesand its overall height above the peripheral flange is dropped by aboutone-third. The louver is as effective as it was before, but when placedon a house roof is much less conspicuous.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A slant roof louver comprising a substantially dat member, an openingdisposed centrally thereof, a dormer disposed above said opening, an airoutlet through one .wall of said dormer,

' ing toward the air outlet.

2. A slant root louver comprising a dormer having side walls, a roof anda front wall, a

peripheral flange lying substantially in'a single plane passed through'the lower edge of the front wall and the rear edge of the roof of .thedormer,

an air outlet through the iront wall of the' dormer, and a drain boardextending from the air outlet inwardly on the side of the peripheralflange opposite to the dormer side and parallel to the dormer roof.

3. A slant roof louver comprising a substantially iiat member, anopening disposed centrally thereof, a dormer having a substantially iiatroof disposed above said opening, an air outlet through one wall of saiddormer, and. a drain board disposed beneath the whole of the flat roofof the dormer and beneath the plane of the nat member, the bottom ofsaid drain board being substantially parallel to the iiat .roof of thedormer and discharging toward the air outlet.

4. A slant roof louver comprising a substantially ilat member, anopening disposed centrally thereof, a dormer including side walls, roofand front wall disposed above said opening, an air outlet through saidfront wall, and a drain member beneath the plane of the flat memberextending inwardly from the bottom oi'. the air outlet to a pointbeneath the line -oit joinder where the roof of the dormer meets the atmember.

l 5. A slant roof louver comprising a substantially iiat member, anopening disposed centrally thereof, a dormer including side walls, roofand front wall disposed above said opening, anair outlet in said frontwall, and a drain, member beneath the plane of the ilat member extendinginwardly from the bottom of the air outlet to a point beneath the lineof joinder where the roof of the dormer meets the flat member, saiddrain member being substantially parallel to the roof of the dormer,whereby positioning the slant roof louver on a pitch roof so that thedormer roof will slope outwardly and downwardly will result in the drainmember sloping toward the air outlet.

6. A slant roof louver comprising a dormer having side walls, a roof anda front wall, a

peripheral iiange lying substantially in a single plane passed throughthe lower edge of the front wall and the rear edge of the roof of thedormer,

an air outlet through the front wall, a drain board beneath the plane ofthe peripheral flange extending from the air outlet inwardly andparallel to the dormer roof to a point near the rear edge oi the dormerroof, thence upwardly to a point short of the dormer roof by a distanceapproximately equal to the height of the air outlet, and thenceforwardly toward the :air outlet parallel to the dormer roof.

7. A slant; roo! louver comprising a peripheral flange dening an openingcentrally thereof and adapted to rest on a flat surface, a dormercomprising oppositely disposed side walls and roof disposed above saidopening, a visor depending from the outer edge of the dormer roof todefine an outlet opening between itself and ra portion of the peripheralflange, a drain board beneath the plane of the peripheral ange andextending substantially parallel to the dormer roof from the base of theoutlet opening to a point beneath the line of joinder where the roof ofthe dormer` adapted to engage a dat surface, a dormer com-` prisingoppositely disposed side walls and root disposed above said opening, avisor depending from the outer edge of thedormer roof to deflne anoutlet opening between itself and a portion of the peripheral iiange, adrain board beneath the plane oi the peripheral iiange and extendingsubstantially parallel to the dormer roof from the base of the outletopening to a point beneath the line of Joinder where the roof ofthe'dormer meets a portion of the peripheral' iiange, and\\ an angulatemember mounted at the inner end oi the drain and directed toward theoutlet opening to form a pocket, there being an air passageway betweenthe dormer roof and the top oi the angulate member. v

9. A slant roof louver comprising a peripheral' flange deining anopening therein and adapted to rest upon -a flat surface, adormercomprising oppositely disposed side walls and roof disposed abovesaid opening, a visor depending from the outer edge of the dormer roofto denne an out the lower ilange, said ramp being substantially parallelto the roof of the dormer, a drain board having one end positioned insaid ramp and extending inwardly beneath the plane of the side anges,and upwardly directed walls along opposite sides of the drain fboard,said walls being so fastened to the dormer that the drain board will .besubstantially parallel to the dormer roof.

12. A slant roof louver comprising a peripheral flange forming a.sloping flat base, a dormer hav-- ing an outlet opening, said dormerbeing mounted above said peripheral ange. 9, deep pocket fbaiiledisposed beneath the dormer and beneath :the plane of the peripheraliiange, said baiiie facing the outlet opening, and a secondv baiiieldisposed 'between the air pocket and the outlet opening.

13. A- slant roof louverhaving a peripheral iange, a dormer mountedthereabove with an outlet opening, a drain board beneath the dormerextending from the bottom of the outlet openlet opening lbetween itselfand a portion of the' peripheral ilange, a drain board beneath the planeof the 'peripheral flange and extending substantially parallel to thedormer roof from the base oi the outlet opening to a point beneath theline of ,'loinder where the roof of the dormer meets a. portion of theperipheral ange, an angulate member mounted at the inner'end of thedrain board and directed toward the outlet opening to form a pocket, anda barile spacedly positioned between the outlet opening and the angulatemember. f

10. A slant roofA louver comprising a peripheral ange, a dormer havingan outlet opening adjacent the rperipheral ange mounted thereabove, anda drain board positioned beneath the plane l l of the peripheral iiangeand having along each of two opposite sides anges of generallytriangular shape, said drain Iboard being positioned. be-

neath the dormer with the triangular anges fassurface, a depressed rampin the inner sidel of ing inwardly beneath the plane ofthe peripheralflange, a plurality of bailies above the drain with openingstherebetween, the total cross sectional areas of the openings betweenthe bafiies substantially equalling the cross sectional area of theoutlet opening.

14. A slant roof louver comprising a flat member, an opening in saidilat member, a housing over said opening on one side of the plane of theilatmember and positioned over said opening, an outlet in one wall ofthe housing, and means disposed on that side ofthe plane of the atmember opposite to the housing for returning water toward the outlet,whereby when the slant roof louver-.is positioned with the outlet lowand the flat member sloped, said last named means will-slope toward theoutlet.

v15. A slant roof louver comprising a dormer having side walls, a roofand a front wall disposed at substantially right angles to the roof,

a. peripheral ilange lying substantially in a single plane passedthrough the lower edge of the front wall and the rear edge of the roofof the dormer, an air outlet through the front wall, a, drain boardbeneath the plane of the peripheral iiange and extending from the airoutlet inwardly and parallel to the dormer roof, and a baille memberextending upwardly from the drain to a point above the top of the airoutlet' and then forwardly .parallel to the dormer roof to a pointdistant from the air outlet by approximately the height thereof. l yFREELAND H. LESLIE.

